A Little Bit Of Help
by AH346
Summary: With both her parents dead, what is Katniss going to do to provide for herself and Prim? Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: Katniss is fourteen, Prim is ten. Enjoy!**

"Prim, I promise that I'll meet you after school right here. Prim, I promise you I'll be fine."

"But Katniss, you promised you wouldn't leave me!" My sister started crying. I quickly pulled her into my frail frame and shushed her. I pulled away from her looked into her azure eyes that reminded me so much of my mother's, although the edges were tinted red from her sobbing.

"I'm not leaving you Prim I promise I'll be back for when you finish school." She sniffed and wiped her tears away with the back of her sleeve.

"Ok, Katniss. Just be careful" I bent down to grab my backpack.

"I will Prim." With that she walked into the school gates and met up with her friend group. I turned my back to the school and headed towards the centre of town. Prim had every right to be nervous about what I was going to be up to today. My father had been killed in a mine explosion just over three years ago now, it had left my whole family devastated. My mother was a shell of a woman. She had left me and Prim to fend for ourselves while she mourned for her husband. Rapidly our worlds sunk into a black abyss. On the third year anniversary of my father's death, mother took her own life, that was three days ago. We held her funeral the day after her death. Myself and Prim were the only people to attend her funeral. The realisation soon hit me that I'd have to get a job, as lost as my mother was she still found time to care for district twelve's sick. I had no know talents, apart from hunting skills that my father had taught me which I used to provide game for Prim, Mother and Myself, but that was illegal in district twelve.

I pulled my father's hunting jacket around my frame, keeping the sharp autumn air from freezing me. It would be winter soon and I needed to find a stable job. I knew there was only one place in town that would take a broken seam brat. The previous winter I had seen starving seam girls make their way to head peacekeeper, Cray's front door. Not reappearing for a good hour, but when they finally appeared they looked broken. It took me a while to figure what happened behind Cray's door. I was disgusted, judging the girls for even considering that. But now I was in their shoes and realised there was no alternatives.

Proudly I walked up to Cray's crimson front door and knocked twice. When Cray appeared I could smell the scent of cheap alcohol radiating off of him. His puzzled look turned into amusement when he realised why I had come to see him.

"Ah Miss Everdeen, what can I do for you?" He smirked. His smirk soon disappeared as his eye caught something behind them. Katniss turned around; she noticed a tall broad figure walking towards them. She realised it was the kind mayor of district twelve. He had always been pleasant towards the Everdeen's. Cray stood up straighter. "Oh good morning Mr Mellark, how can I help you?" He politely asked.

"Well Cray I was hoping I could have a word with Miss Everdeen here." He turned to me. I gathered my composure.

"Yes Sir." I started to follow Mr Mellark. In the distance I could hear Cray's door slam shut. I walked a pace or two behind Mr Mellark until he stopped outside his family bakery. I remembered as a young child my father would buy me and Prim a small cupcake from the bakery, to share, for our birthdays. The taste of the cake would overwhelm me and I would always crave for more. As soon as Mr Mellark opened the door, the scent of fresh bread wafted into my nostrils. I hadn't eaten a proper meal in a while and the smell made my stomach growl. I followed him into the bakery taking in the vast amounts of pastries and bread. Mr Mellark went behind the counter and pulled out a couple of pastries and handed them to me. "Thank you sir." I said tucking into the buttery pastry. It was the best thing I had ever tasted and I soon finished every last crumb. I then noticed the bakery was closed and it was just me and Mr Mellark in the shop, for some reason his presence comforted me.

"Katniss" He looked at me, saw I was paying attention. "I know what you were doing at Cray's house." He said, looking at me sympathetically. My cheeks reddened, I was embarrassed. I suddenly had a crazy idea that maybe he wanted what Cray had wanted from me. I moved closer towards him.

"Sir, I really am desperate. I would do _anything _for money or food." He soon looked at me in shock, backing away.

"Oh God no Katniss, I don't want anything like that. You're just a child." He paused. I felt utterly relieved. "I have a job here at my bakery; we need someone to just generally help out. Just to clean and wash up. I know you and Primrose are having a difficult time at the moment but I know you are both strong girls that just need a small helping hand. With your parents passed away I can imagine it would be hard living in your house. We have a small living apartment above the bakery, you are both welcome to stay there. We would also provide meals. I know you are an independent girl Katniss but I just think you need a little helping. So what do you say?" He asked smiling at me, I couldn't help thinking he looked even kinder when he smiled. I was stunned at the generous offer.

"That's very kind of you Sir, but may I discuss it with Prim before we make a decision?"

"Of course sweetheart." He replied. I thanked him and left the bakery, promising to return soon with an answer. As I had three hours until I had to meet Prim I decided I would go hunting. I jogged away from town to the seam, running past our battered old house. I slipped underneath the district twelve border fence, pausing beforehand to see if it was electrified. As usual it wasn't. I walked into the woods for a good five minutes before I came across the old trunk where I had hidden my father's bow and arrows. As I was walking deeper into the woods I came across a squirrel sitting among the branches. I took aim and shot it straight through the eye. Sometimes I would trade with Mr Mellark, he would always buy my squirrels, and he told me once they were his favourite. I thought I should take some game for him as a way of saying thank-you. After two hours I had collected a rather impressive haul. As I was walking back to the fence I noticed light footprints in the mud, realising the footprints were not my own as they were too large. I started to panic, thinking a peacekeeper had followed me. I tracked the prints; they were leading to the meadow. I noticed the dark-haired boy, sitting in the meadow by himself. I audibly expired. It was just Gale. I had met Gale a few years ago, his father was in the same mine accident as mine and he had also died. Gale had to become the sole provider for his family, just like I had. We had grown close, over the three years. I walked over to him.

"Caught much?" I asked as I sat down beside him amongst the tall grass.

"Not that much today, Catnip. Looks like you've caught it all." He laughed. Gale was a good looking boy, I had always thought so. He had the rugged "seam look" about him and I had heard most girls in our school talk about him. I handed him two rabbits. "Thanks Catnip. So what's happening with you and Prim then? I would say you could stay with us but you know we only barely fit in our house."

"I kind of wanted to talk to you about that, promise you won't get mad?" I looked at him, he looked worryingly at me. "I went to see Cray today."

"You did what Katniss?! Are you crazy?! Did you" He paused. "Did you sleep with him?" He asked gently. I paused and sighed.

"I was close Gale, so close. Mr Mellark stopped me, he told me to follow him and he took me to his bakery and gave me free food and then I thought he wanted the same thing Cray wanted, but he said he didn't and then he offered me a job in the bakery and said me and Prim could live above in the apartment above it. Now I don't know what to do. Me and Prim can't stay at ours anymore, we're bound to be kicked out any day now." I paused my rambling and looked at Gale. He seemed deep in thought.

"Catnip, I'm only saying this because I want what's best for you and Prim, but I reckon you should accept his offer. I know you hate it when people help you Katniss but Mellark seems like a nice enough guy, especially if he stopped you from sleeping with Cray." I thought about it for a moment. Prim needed a place to live. She needed something stable in her life. I would do this but it wasn't going to be for me it was going to be for Prim. I looked at my watch I had twenty minutes until I had to go meet Prim. Gale and I walked leisurely back to the fence, I told him my decision about accepting the offer. I arrived at the school gate five minutes early. School was optional in district twelve; I used to attend school before father died. I had better things to do like hunting.

I noticed Prim walking out of the school with her large crowd of friends, she looked up and saw me. Her face soon broke out in a smile. She ran over to me. "Katniss, I missed you so much today!" I hugged her.

"I missed you too Prim." We then walked off towards town.

"Katniss, where are we going?" Inquired Prim. I then went on to explain to her Mr Mellark's offer, missing out the Cray part. Once I had finished explaining, Prim looked at me grinning even more than before. "Oh Katniss, I've always thought Mr Mellark was kind. Can you remember when daddy used to buy us a cupcake on our birthdays? They used to be so yummy." She said excitedly.

"Yeah I remember Prim. What do you think Prim, would you mind staying there?" I asked.

"Oh of course not Katniss." Prim grabbed a hold of my hand and we made our way towards the bakery. I peered in through the window of the bakery. My eyes latched onto a pair of stunning cobalt blue eyes. It was him. The boy with the bread. I had never forgotten that night where the youngest of the mayor's sons threw me a loaf of bread that had saved my family's life. I never had thanked him for his kindness. But I could now see where he had gotten his generosity from. I broke the bond between our eyes and looked around the bakery, it only had a few customers in it. Me and Prim decided to wait outside, waiting for the last of the customers to leave. Once everyone had left we made our way in.

"Hi, how can I help you?" The boy asked, staring into my eyes.

"Is Mr Mellark in?" I asked politely.

"He's not at the moment but he'll be back in a few minutes. You're welcome to wait here for him." We accepted. We learnt his name was Peeta, he chatted away to Prim and I about the bakery. After five minutes Mr Mellark walked into the bakery, smiling as he noticed me and Prim. We told him that we had accepted our offer.

"Come on then girls, I'll show you the living space." He said. We followed him up the stairs leaving Peeta in the bakery. The apartment was cosy; there were two smallish bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. "Right girls, did you need a hand packing your belongings?" He asked.

"It's alright sir, we only have a few belongings. I'll go get them now." I said.

"Alright well Primrose can stay here and help Peeta decorate some cookies, how does that sound Prim?" He asked. She gleefully nodded and we all made our way downstairs into the shop again. I left my game bag behind the counter and sprinted back to our old house in the seam. It felt strange to think that we wouldn't be living here anymore. Our family had had some great memories in this house, but that was our past and now I had to think about mine and Prim's future. I knew this decision was what was best for Prim. I packed up a few precious belongings: my mother necklace that my father had given her, a photograph of my father and a few items of clothing for me and Prim. Everything else I would trade in the Hob. I put everything in my backpack and set off back to the bakery.

As I entered the bakery, I noticed Prim's face was covered in some type of pink icing. She looked genuinely ecstatic. She was trying to wipe some of the icing onto Peeta's face, his face mirrored Prim's. If I didn't know better I would say they looked like siblings or at least cousins. At that moment I knew we were going to be alright. I coughed, as they didn't realise I was back yet. They both looked at me.

"Come on Prim, let's get you cleaned up." She jumped off the stool she was sitting on and started to follow me up the stairs. She quickly turned back and ran into Peeta giving him a hug.

"Thanks for letting me help you Peeta." She told him.

"You're welcome Prim." He smiled at her then looked to me.

AN: Please read and review. Should I continue?


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Right, I know it been AGES but I have recently re-read the books and it has sparked the continuing of this story. The M rating is for later chapters. Enjoy...**

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The living apartment was nothing special, but it had all what me and Prim would need. There was two small bedrooms, one for each of us. Never before had we not shared a room, and I could not tell if I was dreading the loneliness or looking forward to the privacy. I knew Prim favoured the latter, as she would not stop saying how "great" it will be. Mr Mellark had left us to settle in ourselves, I barely knew him but I had great respect for him, he instinctively knew what it was that me and Prim needed. I followed Prim into her room, helping her neatly fold away her clothes into the draws. The whole time she aimlessly chatted on about how great Mr Mellark was and how talented Peeta was at decorating the cakes.

After Prim had washed and changed for bedshe crawled under the crisp white covers of her new bed, I tucked her in.

"Goodnight Little Duck." I told her softly.

"Goodnight Katniss." She replied, closing her sleepy eyes. I left her room, I myself was exhausted. But I had to thank Mr Mellark before I went to bed. As I climbed down the stairs I could hear a gentle humming coming from the kitchen. Mr Mellark was bent over cleaning the work surface. I coughed alerting him to my presense.

"Oh Katniss, is everything alright sweetheart?" He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at me.

"Oh everything is fine sir. I just wanted to thank you for the kindness you have shown me and Prim." I retrieved my hunting bag and offered him the squirrels I had caught today. "I caught you these as a way to say thank-you." I explained whilst handing them over to him.

"Oh Katniss, you needn't of troubled yourself. But I do love a good squirrel soup, perhaps we can have it for our dinner tomorrow night. Me, you, Prim and the boys, what'd you say?"

"That sounds great Sir."

"Katniss, please call me Braedy. No need to be so formal." He paused smiling at me. "Right then I better let you get to sleep, you have an early start tomorrow, Saturday is our busiest day! If you need anything you know where I am."

"Ok, thank-you sir- Braedy. I'll see you tomorrow." With that I returned upstairs, the Mellarks used to live above the bakery before Mr Mellark became the mayor. They now lived in a medium sized house, closer to the justice building. I used to wonder why he still kept the bakery even though he was the mayor, but seeing him here today has made me realise he still does it because he loves baking. I submerged into my bed and for the first time in years fell straight to sleep, feeling safe.

The next morning I awoke to the calming melody of a mocking jay's song. I wondered where he had picked up the tune. I then did something I had not done since my father had died, I sung. It felt so refreshing and the bird copied the tune. I realised it was probably seven am. I could hear the gentle movement of people down stairs. I wondered if I was already late on my first day, not realising how early a bakery actually opened. I quickly washed and got dressed, re-braiding my messy hair. I hurried downstairs finding Mr Mellark, Peeta and two older boys who looked strikingly similar to Peeta.

"Ah Katniss there you are." Stated Mr Mellark. " I better introduce you to everyone, you've already met the youngest, Peeta. This here is Rye, the middlest. And this is Bran, the oldest. They all help out in the bakery, but the word help is used loosely." He chuckled. Bran and Rye both said quick hellos to me, returning to their work. I couldn't help noticing that neither Bran nor Rye had the same cobalt eyes as Peeta. "Right I'm heading out this morning, I have important business to attend to. I'm going to leave you here in the capable hands of Peeta. He'll show you where everything is and what jobs you may have to do. Unfortunately it's mostly washing up and doing the till. Right best be off see you later." And with that he left me and the three blonde boys in the kitchen.

"It's nice to have you here Katniss." The middlest boy, Rye said to me.

"Try not to mess everything up." The Bran said staring daggers at me.

"Bran, leave the girl alone and get back to your baking." Bran turned away. "Sorry Katniss, Bran can be a bit of a dick sometimes, but he'll grow on you." Said Rye. Throughout this whole exchange Peeta was silent in the corner, concentrating on his work. His eyebrows knit together in concentration. I walked over to him.

"Urm hi, what did you want me to do this morning?" I enquired politely. He stopped his work and looked up at me.

"Ur-I'll give you a tour of where everything is first." He then proceeded to showing me around the bakery. He said barely anything to me just pointing out where everything was kept and showed me how to operate the till.

"Right then I better get started." I told him.

"Ok, let me know if you have any problems with anything." I got to work washing the equipment, generally tidying and serving costumers in the store front. It took me a while to get used to how the till worked but after a hour or so I had it mastered. Before I knew it Rye was poking his head around the doorway that separated the kitchen from the store front.

"Hey Katniss, how you getting on?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think I've got the hang of this thing now." I pointed at the till and smiled at him.

"Aha good, right well did you want your lunch break now? I think Peeta fixed us up a couple of sandwiches. We normally eat together, but you don't have to."

"Oh, are you sure there would be enough for me?" I hesitatingly asked.

"Yeah sure, Bran could always do with less." He chuckled. I followed him into the kitchen. Peeta and Bran were already sat around the small dining table in the corner of the room. I sat and listened as the three boys chatted amongst each other, Peeta and Rye occasionally asking me questions. I couldn't help thinking how different their relationships with each other was compared to mine and Prim's relationship. Talking of Prim I had yet to see her this morning, I was hoping that she was sitting quietly doing her homework upstairs. It was already around 12 am so I asked if I could go check on her. Like I had thought, she was sitting quietly at the table in the kitchen doing her homework.

"How you doing, little duck?" I asked her.

"Katniss! I missed you this morning. I'm just working on my history homework Miss Miller wants the entire project in for Monday. How unfair is that?"

"That's not fair, can I help you with anything? Have you had your lunch yet?" She smiled brightly at me.

"Yeah, Peeta brought me up lunch. Oh Katniss it was so tasty and he also helped me a little with my homework."

"Oh that was nice of him." I smiled back at her.

"Katniss, I understand why she did it." She looked at me, her normally happy eyes tainted with sadness.

"Who are you talking about Prim?" I asked.

"Mum, I understand why she ended her life. I know you are angry with her for leaving us." She explained.

"Don't talk like that Prim. Oh course I'm angry at her she left her two daughters to fend for themselves, but you have to remember Prim we can't change anything now. We just have to focus on looking after ourselves. We basically lost mother when dad died. Come on, I have a few minutes left for lunch, I'll help you with that homework." I hugged her and we got to work for on her homework for ten minutes. "Oh Prim, I forgot to say Mr Mellark invited us to have dinner around the Mellark's tonight. Make sure you look smart." I tell her.

"Alright Katniss, have fun working." And with that I returned to the bakery. Rye and Peeta were then cleaning up their mess from the table.

"Thanks Peeta, for mine and Prim's lunch." I told him.

"Your welcome Katniss." He smiled at me.

"Urm Peeta, I was just wondering will your mother be eating with us tonight." He looked a bit shocked by my question. Everyone in district twelve knew that the mayor's wife was cruel, even to her own children apparently. I couldn't understand why someone as kind as Mr Mellark would marry an evil woman like her.

"Er, not tonight. She already had plans." He explained. I could tell that this was code that she didn't want to be in the company of Seam brats like me and Prim. I smiled at his politeness and continued working with in the store front until five o'clock when the bakery closed then helped tidy the kitchen. The others had already done a lot of it so it didn't take very long. After I was dismissed, quite rudely, by Bran I returned upstairs and proceeded into getting myself presentable for going to the mayor's house. Prim wore one of her dresses that she had had for years, that worryingly still fit her. I just wore a cleaner pair of pants and a clean shirt.

That evening we all sat around the Mellark's large dining room table and ate a delicious meal of squirrel soup and fresh bread. The conversation was pleasant and one you would expect around a family table. Mr Mellark frequently asked Prim and I questions regarding school and my hunting skills. He told me that he had always found it impressive that I always shot the squirrel right through the eye. I smiled at the compliment and couldn't help but thinking of my hunting partner. He was probably worried about me. We usually met up and hunted all of Sunday together.

" Excuse me, Braedy. I was just wondering if the bakery is open tomorrow?"

"No Katniss, it isn't. We aren't open Sundays and Mondays." He smiled at me.

"Would it be alright if I went hunting then?" Even though he was the mayor of district twelve and should be discouraging and preventing illegal behaviour my father always told me that the kind baker would trade and normally be generous.  
"Of course, sweetheart." After we finished our soup, we each had a piece of cherry pie. Both myself and Prim had never eaten cherries before. We both ate every single crumb. After our meal Rye and Peeta walked us back to the apartment. I repeated what I had done the previous evening and tucked Prim into bed.

"Goodnight little duck."

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**AN: Hope you enjoyed it! Please review! **


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